March 3, 2005 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Covenant House: Journey of a Faith-Based Charity
by Peter J. Wosh
Few nonprofit organizations have experienced the “dizzying growth” of Covenant House, a charity for homeless youths that saw its budget rise to nearly $90-million during the 1980s, and few groups have fallen as quickly from favor.
When its charismatic and media-savvy founder, the Rev. Bruce Ritter, faced allegations of sexual and financial misconduct, the institution seemed to be approaching ruin. This book, commissioned by Covenant House and written by Peter J. Wosh, director of the archives program at New York University, explores the charity’s past and offers a context for examining the work of religious charities at a time when they are receiving increased government assistance.
Drawing on oral histories and archival materials, Mr. Wosh examines Father Ritter’s background and the friendships he built that were instrumental to his charity’s growth. The author writes that Father Ritter’s “charismatic authority” sometimes clashed with efforts to integrate rules and regulations into the charity’s operations, a problem that the author says is common among religious groups driven by “zealous commitment and a transcendent sense of mission.” He also notes that Father Ritter’s focus on how the sex industry aggravated youth homelessness helped garner national attention to the subject, but at the expense of discussion of other problems.
Mr. Wosh also discusses Covenant House’s relationship with the news media, donors, government, and other nonprofit groups. In addition, the book analyzes the challenges that religious charities face in shaping appropriate relations with secular organizations that finance or regulate their work. Father Ritter, for example, often touted his independence from government, yet the charity was founded with help from state and local grants that gave it the legitimacy to appeal to private donors, Mr. Wosh says.
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, 4200 Pine Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19104; (215) 898-6261; fax (215) 898-0404; http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress; 296 pages; $39.95; ISBN 0-8122-3831-1.
